Thieves steal kind Leadenham farmer’s MBE medal

A selfless farmer has been left devastated after thieves stole his MBE medal, along with vital paperwork for his charity work when they made off with his Land Rover.

Andrew Ward, who farms at Glebe Farm in Leadenham, was awarded an MBE in 2014 for his services to farming resilience after setting up the charity Forage Aid, which helps farmers hit by harsh weather.

He had put his medal in the glove box of his £35,000 Land Rover Discovery after taking it to a charity function. Also in the vehicle was his ‘mobile office’ which included a box full of paperwork for his charity, documents for his farming work, his laptop and memory sticks, plus a Canon camera and TomTom Sat Nav.

He said: “While the vehicle was important, it can be replaced. It is my medal and all the other stuff which is irreplaceable.

“I think whoever did this must have been watching us. It was stolen in broad daylight at 4.15pm on Thursday (August 18) from the main yard at the farm.

“They had a nine minute window to take it. The man that runs the yard had finished his shift and gone home and I’d popped into Leadenham to put diesel in the tractor while our other member of staff was on the field.

“My sister was on her way back from Newark and was 200 yards away when she saw a dark coloured saloon car pulling out of the yard followed by my Discovery.

“My German Shepherd Tara was sleeping in the back of the Land Rover when they took it. She likes to jump in and out of it and be near me when I’m at the farm. Luckily, they took her out before they stole it. It was a Godsend she wasn’t taken. We are inseperable.”

The Land Rover Discovery is bronze with registration X4 AWW. If you have any information contact Lincolnshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 342 of August 18.